"Did they act plays?" asked Bell.

"Yes, and with much amusement. While he was wintering at Melville
Island, Captain Parry offered his crews these two entertainments, and
they enjoyed them very much."

"Well," said Johnson, "I should have liked to be there; it must have
been funny enough."

"Funny indeed; Lieutenant Beecher was manager of the theatre, and
Captain Sabine editor of the 'Winter Chronicle, or Gazette of North
Georgia.'"

"Good names," said Altamont.

"The paper appeared every Monday morning, from November 1, 1819, to
March 20, 1820. It contained an account of everything that happened,
the hunts, accidents, incidents, and of the weather; there were
stories written for it; to be sure, it lacked the humor of Sterne, and
the delightful articles of the 'Daily Telegraph'; but they got
amusement from it; its readers were not over-critical, and I fancy no
journalists ever enjoyed their occupation more."

"Well," said Altamont, "I should like to hear some extracts from this
paper, my dear Doctor; its articles must all have been frozen solid."

"No, no," answered the doctor; "at any rate, what would have seemed
simple enough to the Liverpool Philosophical Society, or the London
Literary Institution, was perfectly satisfactory to the crews beneath
the snow. Do you want a sample?"

"What! Do you remember--"

"No, but you had 'Parry's Voyages' on board the _Porpoise_, and I can
read you his own account."

"Do!" shouted the doctor's companions.

"There's nothing easier."

The doctor got the book from the shelves, and soon found the passage.

[Illustration]

"See here," he said, "here are some extracts from the newspaper. It is
a letter addressed to the editor:--

"'It is with genuine satisfaction that your plan for the establishment
of a newspaper has been received. I am convinced that under your
charge it will furnish us with a great deal of amusement, and will
serve to lighten materially the gloom of our hundred days of darkness.

"'The interest which I, for my part, take in it has caused me to
examine the effect of your announcement upon the members of our
society, and I can assure you, to use the consecrated phrase of the
London press, that it has produced a profound impression upon the
public.

"'The day after the appearance of your prospectus, there was on board
an unusual and unprecedented demand for ink. The green cloth of our
tables was suddenly covered with a deluge of quill-pens, to the